In a move that has sparked outrage and condemnation, Israeli forces have demolished several buildings within the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency’s (UNRWA) compound in occupied East Jerusalem. The incident, which took place early on Tuesday morning, has been described by UN officials as a “breach of international law” and an “unprecedented attack” against a UN agency.
According to reports, Israeli soldiers forcibly removed the compound’s security guards before bringing in bulldozers to raze multiple large and smaller structures within the premises. The compound, located in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, previously served as a workplace for dozens of UNRWA staff members, who have been barred from accessing the site since early last year after an Israeli directive forced the agency to vacate all its facilities and cease operations.
Jonathan Fowler, a spokesperson for UNRWA, condemned the incident, stating that Israel was “taking the open and deliberate defiance of international law to a new level.” He added that this was “part of a pattern that we’ve seen which has been cranking up for some time,” with the agency facing the risk of having its water and power supplies cut in the coming weeks.
The demolition comes just months after the Israeli parliament passed a law in October 2024 banning UNRWA from operating in the country and prohibiting officials from having contact with the agency. Israel has accused some UNRWA staff of being members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and alleged that they were involved in an attack on Israel in October 2023, which killed around 1,200 Israelis.
UNRWA has denied these allegations, stating that Israel has not provided evidence for all the claims against its staff. In a statement, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said that Israel had conducted “a large-scale disinformation campaign” against the agency.
The incident has drawn widespread condemnation from the international community, with Lazzarini describing it as “a new level of open and deliberate defiance of international law, including of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, by the State of Israel.” He warned that this “must be a wake-up call” and that what happened to UNRWA could happen to “any other international organisation or diplomatic mission, whether in the Occupied Palestinian Territory or anywhere around the world.”
Israel’s foreign ministry, however, has insisted that the seizure of the compound was carried out in accordance with Israeli and international law, claiming that the compound no longer enjoyed any immunity and that the UNRWA-Hamas had already ceased its operations at the site.
The demolition of the UNRWA compound in East Jerusalem is the latest in a series of actions taken by the Israeli government against the UN agency, which provides essential services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the Middle East. The incident has further exacerbated tensions in the region and raised concerns about the future of the UN’s operations in the occupied Palestinian territories.
